The FAS Pesta Sukan Women’s 7s was held on Sunday October 11 at the Singapore American School. The annual 7-a-side football event has become entrenched in the local women’s football scene over the years and has never failed to attract support.

Apart from the various established clubs, there were a significant number of varsity teams in the competitions. Both NTU and SMU joined the event while NUS had two teams in competition. Ngee Ann Polytechnic and Republic Polytechnic also participated in the event.

Kicking off at 9am to an excited and buzzing crowd of supporters the event was complimented by a fine Sunday morning sun. The 20 teams involved were split into 4 groups of 5 teams each with the matches in quick successions. Despite the heavy competition, the event was largely played in good spirit, with fair play being observed all around.

The group stages came to a close by noon with Arion Women’s ‘A’ having established themselves as firm favourites after getting through their group games undefeated and recording the competition’s biggest win, a 7-0 rout of Republic Poly.

Having lost at the penultimate hurdle at last year’s competition, reigning FAS Women’s Challenge Cup holders Arion Women’s FC were looking to make amends this year.

Arion Women’s ‘A’ team member Angeline Chua said, “We are looking to go all the way this year for the competition. Last year we were beaten by Young Women in the semi-finals, so we want to make up for that and go one better.”

By the quarterfinal stages, NTU were the only varsity team left in the competition. Joining them in the knockout stages was SAS ‘C’ who had surpassed expectations to make it through a difficult group. The match between the two teams resulted in the first penalty shootout of the tournament after neither team was able to find the net in regulation time. In a nervous shootout, NTU kept its cool and edged out their young opponents as they converted all but one of their penalties.

Sengkang Punggol and Police Sports Association also made it through their quarterfinal matches with identical 1-0 wins over Arion Women’s ‘A’ and Sporting Westlake respectively. The fourth team to make the semi-finals was Middle Rangers ‘A’ as they edged past their ‘B’ team compatriots 2-1.

With music blaring and families and friends out in full force for the event, the atmosphere was lively. Many of the girls also took time to fraternise with their compatriots during whatever little break they had.

In the semi final 2008 Women’s Challenge Cup winners Police FC took on Sengkang Punggol. In an otherwise close affair, it was Sengkang’s Nurashidah Rashid who stole the limelight by scoring a goal in each half to send her team through the finals. A rock solid performance from Chen Cai Ying at the back made the difference as well keeping the Police attack at bay and ensuring a clean sheet for her team.

NTU and Middle Rangers ‘A’, in a very closely fought encounter that ended 1-1 in regulation time, contested the other semi final. NTU involved in their second consecutive penalty shootout had to endure the heartbreak this time around as they were sent crashing out of the competition.

The final was a rematch of an earlier Group C encounter. Sengkang Punggol having narrowly lost 2-3 in that match were looking to put one over their rivals. Both teams had also met at the final fixture of the FAS Women’s League just two weeks ago, when a win for Sengkang Punggol decided the title in their favour.

With rivalry and the Pesta Sukan crown on the line, Sengkang took the game to Middle Rangers right from the start of the match, as Chen Yue Gui grazed the crossbar with a long-range drive direct from kick-off. Given the short amount of time, both teams then resorted to long passes to turn defensive pressure into quick counter attacks.

After a flurry of near chances at both ends, the deadlock was finally broken before the end of the first half. Chen Yue Gui’s tricky corner was mishandled over the line by the Middle Ranger’s goalkeeper gifting Sengkang a crucial 1-0 lead. With the day’s long and grueling schedule starting to take a toll on the players, both teams fought hard to turn the game to their favour.

But it was Sengkang who doubled their lead with a second goal coming from Nurashidah Rashid, slotting home after being played through by Jillyn Koh. With their opponents unable to convert their chances the first half drew to a close with Sengkang ahead two goals to the good.

Middle Rangers piled on the pressure in the second half but more chances went amiss. They did however manage to pull a goal back late in the game but it proved to be too little too late as the game ended 2-1 to the ladies in red and black.

With that win, Sengkang Punggol made it two trophies in two weeks having clinched the FAS Women’s League 2009 title on September 27. With another crown added to their honours list in their first year in women’s football competition, the team has now leapt beyond expectations having been formed just under a year ago.

At the prize giving ceremony Guest of Honour Ms Nazreen Banu, the FAS Head of Women’s Football Department, was delighted with the turnout and progress of the event.

She summed it up by saying, “It was a good event. I would like to thank SAS for hosting the tournament since 2001; it’s been a real boost for women’s football. There was good turn out for the competition with 20 teams taking part this year. But most importantly the girls looked like they enjoyed themselves. It was a good day today for women’s football.”

As the tournament grew to a close, the top four teams collected their medals and set aside their fatigue to indulge in photo taking to wrap up another memorable event.

With the end of Pesta Sukan 2009, the curtain comes down on another year of women’s football. But the dedicated teams and players will be back next year to indulge in their passion once again.